What is the TFP Plotto Machine? (Writers wanted)

i'm not super-thrilled with the little piece i put up, partly because i ended up cutting all but a couple of the lines from other pieces that i had been working with and partly because the spiral in the piece got to be so tight that i am not sure it's clear what is happening. i may tinker with it some more. i just finished a long-ish sequence on the weekend, so am maybe a little fried.

no matter, tho. onward.

 

Two C8's in a row. Nothing against a spiritual victory but when do I get to kill someone off at the end?

 

Hmm. There seems to be a common pattern. Getting a bit "samey"?

I may step out for this one. We'll see.

 

well, here's the thing. a "spiritual victory" can be as malicious as you want it to be. i would build the desired outcome back into a plotline. maybe messing with the viewpoint is a way to go. killing can be really satisfying spiritually for one who kills, for example.

at the same time, remember that a random function means that the previous array of outcomes has no relation to the present array of outcomes--so it is just as likely that a c8 will show up this time as not. this is perhaps one of the things that inspired the fine folk who made i-tunes to make their random function less random so that it would appear to be more random by excluding the variables that were just selected.

of course this leads me to think about neil young being sued by his record label for giving them an album that was not neil young enough. but i digress maybe.

 

Yeah, I know. You're right.

I guess I'm just a bit disappointed in Plotto.

It can be made to work, though - and maybe I was expecting too much from it.

Honestly, a random word as a title would work just as well, or so it seems to me.

It worked when I was at school, anyway.

 

My Plotto 3 story is going to be a bit salacious in places. I'm not sure if you want to flag Plotto #3 as NSFW or if that would only apply to pictures. I'll wait for a reply before posting it up.

 

Hypothetically, could one post more than one story per output? I don't have another one in the chamber right now. But should inspiration land on me, would it be acceptable to toss in another offering?

 

I put two in during the 1st Plotto.

I'm still alive.

 

Huzzah!

 

For my own part, I'd be partial to the original Plotto format. I can understand and respect the concern over repeating formula points, but I think we've established and shown that a redundant formula point does not equal a redundant story. It's been demonstrated already that attaining a spiritual victory, to continue the example, can be anything from gaining a religious goal, to maintaining one's worldview in the face of adversity, to cold murder because it's satisfying. I think I prefer the more open-ended format over the more restrictive FIG formula. If we do end up going that way, I will, of course, still try to participate.

 

I've not had any time to participate or even follow this.

Maybe later, I hope.

 

I like the Plotto format for the reasons above, also because I am now commited to the characters and the world I have created - they are part of a novel in weekly instalments, each scene of which will be determined by the Plotto-phrase you present.


Baraka, I have re-read your post and if the Fiction Idea Generator (FIG) app operates as simply as you press a button and it just gives you something you can post here, then please, please do add it as a vegetarian option on the menu ... it'd send me on an interesting techy-geek learning curve to understand some of the terms. (Deuteragonist? Wtfagonist!)

I don't want to lose the Plotto prompts but I'd extend my commitment, to do both if you post FIG scenarios.

 

I'm for sticking with the original Plot Generator but I could be enticed by a constraint or two. Maybe just one constraint actually. Maybe 1 different constraint each week.

I like Zen's idea. Put it out there, as he calls it - a vegetarian option.

 

Yeah, the FIG thing seems a bit prescriptive - even more so than Plotto. Sure, there is room for invention but it could be too constraining for some people. Maybe as an option?

I'm easy, I guess. We can work around most things.